Malta | week 1

9.29.2014

So my second week here on Malta was great. I got to know a lot more people who I will be with for the next several months, and they all seem really awesome. Earlier this week the O'Keeffe family invited us over for dinner. They are a retired couple from Preston, England. Brother O'Keeffe was a chef in England for 50 years, and he blew me away. Dinner at his house was honestly as good as anything a tasted in Italy. We had a great night together, and they told us that their house was open for us once a week to bring an investigator or less active over for dinner. That will definitely be happening for the next several months each week. 

On Sunday after church Anziano Orfila had an hour meeting since he is the first counselor, and i sat in the foyer with Brother O'Keeffe, and he told me the coolest stories I have ever heard for the whole hour. He worked as a chef at the MTC in England for about 7 years, and it was his responisibility to cook for the general authorities whenever they came. He told me stories of all the times he fed apostles and even President Hinckley, and it was amazing. Can't wait to here more. 

Also, the Maltese people in general are really friendly. Because it is really hot, people arent usually on the streets. They are at the beach or in their house. Naturally, we try to do finding in their houses instead. This week while we were knocking doors, 3 people offered me a drink or asked if I need to use the bathroom. That never happened once in Italy. Super awesome. Kind act of the week though goes to a super awesome elderly lady though. Orfila and I were looking up an address we had passed by a couple days before on a big map. It was quite obvious we didnt know where we were going, so a random lady asked us where we needed to go and then gave us directions. Right when we got to the house, the girl we were looking for pulled up in her car. Apparently her mom is really Catholic, but she was interested, so we taught her for about 30 minutes outside on her frontporch, and we got a return appointment for this week at her work. Afterwards Orfila and I realized that if we rang the doorbell at any other time, we probably would have been told to not come back and then nothing would have happened. 

On Sunday morning we also got to go to a hospital to give the sacrament to the ex-branch president here in Malta. He is terminally ill right now, and one of the two companionships here go each Sunday to do that. It was a great experience. 

Things are looking up here in Malta. Im not sure how well Im going to learn Maltese though. Studying it this week was quite difficult, and most people here speak English, sooo...we will see. Right now the thing I am most looking forward to is General Conference. We are going to challenge everyone we are teaching to watch it prayerfully with a particular question in mind. I hope everyone does the same, because it is a golden opportunity to know exactly what God wants us to know, feel, and do in our lives. Saturday and Sunday are going to be the best!

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 25

Regan saying bye to Nem 

District Pday at Francesco's 

 Soccer field that Francesco made for them!

Goodbye dinner with Francesco! Regan is going to really miss him 

Pday in Malta 

 Regan with his new companion, Anziano Orfila, from Argentina!

Malta 

9.22.2014

So this week has been extremely busy, and I have loved every minute of it. It started off with having a district pday at Francescos house (Anziano Blair and I and the 4 Terni Anziani). We told Francesco that we wanted to play soccer in his field, and he took is lawnmower down and cut us a field and made boundaries and stuff with some poles. It was the nicest thing ever. Then after we played soccer and ultimate frisbee a couple hours, he grilled out for us. It was probably the most memorable pday of my mission. I will seriously miss my days up in Rome. 

The next day Anziano Puff came up from Napoli to be with Anziano Blair, and we had a great exchange together while Anziano Blair went out with Anziano Burkheart (greeny who came down to Malta with me). That night we went over and saw Lorenzo together for the last time. It was a great night. Lorenzo lived here in Malta for 5 years so he told me a lot about the island, and he actually gave me a phone number and name of an old friend to come visit, so we will see if that goes through. It was a good night, and I sure cant wait to go back to see him hopefully before I come home. 

The day after that, Anziano Burkheart and I flew down to Malta, and it was really strange being in the airport again. I knew I was getting transfered, but it felt like I was getting sent home or something. Anyways, the flight down here was a little over an hour, and it was quite the shock when I got down here. Malta is absolutely nothing like Italy. It is probably the hottest weather I have ever been in. It is like the heat of Arizona plus the humidity of Georgia in the same place. The middle of the island is pretty much like a desert, and all of the buildings are in limestone, so it has a very ancient look to it. The culture is also a lot different. I will probably drop about 10 of the 15 pounds that I put on while I was in Italy (partly because there is a track right next to our house, mostly because the food is different). Maltese is also A LOT different. Everyone here speaks it and from my experience so far about 70% of the people speak English good enough to carry on a good conversation. So...I will be speaking a lot of English here, but we do take a 2 hour Maltese course twice a week, and we are suppose to try to learn it, so we will see how that goes. My motivation to learn Maltese kind of took a hit, when I found out there is no Book of Mormon in Maltese, so everyone we teach will have to speak English. However, Ill give it a shot anyways. 

Anziano Orfila is easily one of the coolest missionaries I have met on my mission so far. He is from Brazil, but he moved to Suwannee, GA when he was 10 and went to Peachtree Ridge for 3 years, which is so cool! That was like 45 minutes away from my house. Then he moved back to Brazil for high school. So, he speaks flawless English, and other than that, he is just the man. Right now he is serving as the first counselor to the Branch President here in Malta, and he has done awesome work since he got here in Malta 7 weeks ago. A week after he got here he met a 17 year old kid named Damyan who got baptized on Saturday. It was such a special day. I met Damyan at his baptism and saw him again the next day in church which was his birthday when he got confirmed, and he was so happy. He is the only youth here in the branch, but he loves all the older people, and they treat him like their own son. There were 19 people at his baptism (which was in a backyard pool of a family that lives across the street from the church and they represented 8 countries: Bulgaria, Brazil, Malta, Italy, Ireland, England, the Philippines, and the US. It was so awesome. The branch here consists of 30 people and it is super diverse, and I love it. On Sunday there was a speaker who gave her talk in Maltese, the Branch President translated it into English, and I translated it from English into Italian for our member from Sicily. It was a great meeting, and I am really looking forward to getting to know these members better and working with the people. 

Overall, Malta is certainly not Italy, but the spirit and love in the branch is the same as it was in Italy which is the same as it was back in Georgia. Im excited to try to learn a new language and get to know a new people. Most of all, Im super excited to get to know and work with Anziano Orfila. Im super lucky to be with him, and since he just got here last transfer, we will probably be together through xmas. We will see. Have a good week. 

Anziano Smith 

Rome 5 | week 24

9.15.2014

The big news of the week came through on Saturday when we got transfer calls! I found out that I will be going to Malta to be with Anziano Orfila! I met him for the first time 2 weeks ago at zone conference, and he was really cool. He is from Argentina, and he speaks absolutely flawless English and Italian, and Im sure he is already speaking decent Maltese even though he has only been there for 6 weeks. It is something I am definitely looking forward to, and there will be more information on Malta next week. 

The highlight of this week had to have been my exchange with Anziano Pingree. We got to go to Perugia together, and it was a great time. We spend most of the day looking for old investigators who had either moved or were not home, but in the process, we met a lot of cool people and ran into to a food festival with food from all over italy. On our way back down to the train station we decided to stop by one more address and we got into the first house of the day. It was a lady whos daughter got baptized, married an RM, and moved to the states. She was really nice to us, got out her Book of Mormon and said she was "ready to study with us again." We only had like 10 minutes to leave a thought, but Anziano Pingree and Bee will go back soon. On the way home we met a guy on the train who was here backpacking in Italy by himself. He ended up being from the same town as Anziano Pingree back in Colorado, so we had a really good talk with him for like 20 minutes on the train, but never talked much about the gospel. After he got off Pingree was like, "I wander if I should have talked more about the gospel." The next stop was Assisi and then he was like, I guess we preach the gospel and use words when necessary. I thought it was hilarious. Quoting St. Francis in his own city. On the whole it was an unforgettable day. 

Anziano Blair and I went around a lot this week to see people for the last time which was sad, but I know I will see them all again in the near future, so it wasnt too bad. I have been really lucky to serve here in Rome 5. Have an awesome week everyone. 

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 23

9.8.2014

This week started off with a scary experience that ended up being a really big faith builder. It had to do with our spare keys to the car. About 2 months ago I lost the keys to the car, and we went to the mission office in Rome to get the spare keys which we have been using since. Last Sunday night, I got really scared when I realized that the spare keys were nowhere to be found. Anziano Blair and I looked around the house for a solid 30 minutes, and then we finally decided to say a prayer to find them. Almost immediately after I had the thought that they were in Francescos car, but I couldnt remember leaving them or losing them there. So Francesco works in Rome during the week, but he stays at Poggio Mirteto during the weekend (1 hour away) where his car stays also. We needed the key asap, because the office was asking for our mileage and that stuff cause it was the 1st of the month, and we did not want to say we lost the spare key. We told Francesco what happened and he came all the way down from Rome. Fortuanately, the key fell out of my pocket and was underneath the front passenger seat in the car. Afterwards, we ate lunch together, and Francesco said a prayer of gratitude that was really touching. I was really relieved we didnt have to go the car dealer and get a new key made, haha. I would have felt so dumb. 

This week we also ran into a lady at the train station here in Passo Corese who is originally from Rome, but moved to Argentina when she was pretty young. She was a member there in Argentina for 26 years, but hasnt been to church since she moved back to Italy about 15 years ago. She still had her Book of Mormon next to her couch with pictures of the missionaries who taught her over the years. She told us her story for about an hour, and it was really touching. I remember in the MTC they drew a triangle on the board and explained it like 100 times. The 3 points were the missionaries, the investigators, and the Lord, and they taught us how our responsibility to the bring these people to the Lord. However, to do so, we also have to be in contact with his Spirit and we have to love them and help them come unto him. The whole point was that as missionaries, our purpose is the bring people to Christ and this way they will never fall away. If they are just attracted to the missionaries, the people, or the programs they are likely to fall away after a period of time. On my mission I have seen how everyone is imperfect (leaders, missionaries, members) - we are all human beings, but God uses us in our weakness anyways to do his work. However, we are truly converted to the Lord, we will be able to look past mistakes, forgive, and move on even when it is really hard cause it is what the Savior asks us to do. Much easier said than done, but everyone can find the strength to do it. 

Last Saturday we got to meet up with Daniel (from Caserta) at Termini. He finished a test for BYU Pathways which is a program BYU-I is offering here in Rome. He is doing awesome in school and hoping to transfer to BYU Provo next year! That would possibly be the coolest that ever happened to me to be able to go to college with Daniel and keep up my Italian. 

Last week we also had Zone Conference at Rome 2, and all the missionaries were talking about the upcoming transfer. Someone asked Anziano Blair if he was excited for a change, and I will never forget his response: 4 with Smith, thats the dream! It was so funny. I will never forget my time here in Rome 5 for the rest of my life. There have been hilarious moments, really spiritual/happy moments, and a lot of times where I thought of the Lords words to Joseph Smith when he was in prison: all these things shall give thee experience. All of the experiences together of have been an incredible blessing. Even when there is a really hard day, it is just like finishing a hard test or workout, when its done its done and you are really glad you did it. Anyways, I will do my best to treasure up the next 6 transfers I have left. The time here is flying, and I will be home before I know it. Until then, keep it real.

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 22

9.1.2014

So every Tuesday is our district meeting which is usually held in Terni, but this week we switched it up a little, and did a district service project and then had our meeting. A family in our branch was moving this past Tuesday, so our whole district of 8 went to help with the move. It ended up being a great decision, because only 3 other members showed up, so they were in desperate need of help. We moved them from 10 to 4, and if it was just Anziano Blair and I we probably would not have finished until late that night. 

Our weekend also ended up being very eventful. We got a text from Rome 2 last week telling us that a member (Michele) and his son (Dario) were moving here to Rome 5 this week, and so we would be teaching them from now on. We were able to get over there Friday night, and it was great for a couple of reasons. Number one, Dario has been meeting with the missionaries for quite a while now, and he feels that it is all right and it is his time to be baptized. That obviously shocked us, and we were extremely happy to here that. After the lesson they asked us if we wanted to go see a horse show that was going on in the city for the weekend. We went and it was totally a rodeo! Anziano Blair and I bought matching bolo ties and got to hang out with Dario and Michele for about an hour and a half at the coolest rodeo I have ever seen even though it just consisted of a bunch of Italians riding horses around in a circle. It was in a city called Scandriglia which is gorgeous. The whole city is on a hill just looking over a huge valley, and it was built in 500 AD. The "rodeo" was on a field at the bottom of the city, so we got some really good pics of it. Memorable night to say the least. 

Francesco has continued go above and beyond by doing nice things for us. He knows that we are absolutely crazy for figs, and the next two weeks will be my last two weeks of fig season here in Italy. On Sunday morning he went and picked a huge box of figs and brought them over to our house at 830 then we all rode to church together. No one does stuff like that. No one. He is the nicest man ever. Anyways, church went great because it was our ward conference and the Stake Presidency did an amazing job with their lessons/talks. The faith of the members here in Italy is something else. 

Thats about all Ive got for this week. Im so glad Anziano Blair and I have been able to do 3 transfers together. I have seriously learned so much from him. Last night we were talking about humility. He was like "before my mission I never prepared, planned, or practiced anything. Now Ive realized it takes humility to do it. Now I want to tell all the greenies, Step down from your pedestal. Get off your high horse." I was laughing so hard. Its a true principle though. I have worked hard my whole mission, but I have seen how success and happiness comes only when I realize that this is the Lords work and it can only be done with his help. Humility is the key. 

Have a good week,

Anziano Smith

Rome 5 | week 21

Regan and Anziano Blair helping Fratello Garcia paint his new apartment

8.25.2014

This week we had a couple interesting experiences. The first one happened when I called up the Fratello Gessati to see if he could come to a lesson/dinner with us and Francesco. He agreed, but said that he had to check with his wife to know what time he could come. There was a serious miscommunication that went down that was probably all my fault. We all met up at the Poggio train station and Fratello Gessati brought his wife and 3 kids. It was so awkward and everyone was looking at me, haha. It was okay though. We stopped to buy some more food, and we had a really good lesson on prayer in which everyone was able to share some experiences and thoughts, and then we ate lasagna, pizza, grilled out, and ate a bunch of fruit from Francescos garden. It was awesome. However, half our members still think i dont speak Italian. Probably because I dont. 

Ok I wanted to write about our Nigerian friends and the Jehovahs Witnesses we taught this week, but my time is short and I only have time for one more story. At the beginning of this week, Anziano Blair and I set a goal to teach 70 people out on the street not including our current investigators. We worked so hard to stop as many people as possible, and Sunday afternoon we had 35 gospel conversations with a total of about 45 people. I was honestly thinking to throw in the towel, and call 45 a good effort. However, a miracle happened. 3 weeks ago, our Romanian friend Stefano told us he would come visit our church if we agreed to visit his church. Yesterday we met him at his house at 2 and we went to his church which was a Roman Orthodox church. The service consisted of about 45 minutes of prayers/songs. Then everyone ate together which was really cool. There were 3 plates of food (pasta, some sort of romanian meet dish that was good, and then a dessert). In between each plate, the priest read from the Bible for about 15 minutes. While we were eating, at least 5 people asked us who we were. We responded that we were missionaries for our church then changed the subject, because the last thing I wanted to do was start proselyting in another church during their services. Super bad idea. Anyways, at the end of the service we waited for the priest to greet eveyone as the exited, and we stayed behind to thank him for letting us come. While that was going on, 5 deacons (not sure what they are called) started a conversation with us about who we were. When the main priest finished his thing, he came over to talk to us, and everyone else that was still in the chapel turned to watch what was going to happen. I didnt count, but it was at least 25 people. After like 2 minutes of thanking him for letting us come and complimenting his work, he switched the topic to Mormonism. It was the first time in my life that someone told me to my face that Joseph Smith was a false prophet who made up a story to get money and followers. I will never forget the next 20 minutes for the rest of my life. I looked him right in the eyes and testified of the Restoration through the Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and prophets that walk the earth in these days. There was a spirit that came into the room that no one could deny. He responded by taking our temple pass along card and saying that if we were true Christians, we would use our money to help the poor instead of building elegant churches. Then we talked about what the church does with money, how we are paying to serve these missions and how there are no paid leaders in our church, but everyone pays tithing to build the kingdom of God throught the whole earth. After we finished explaining that, it was over. They didnt want to talk anymore. Then he made fun of us for something and we thanked them again and left. We went with zero intentions to talk to anyone about the church, but we realized how inspired it was when we were leaving and realized we had just reached our goal of teaching 70 people for the week. Definitely an experience I will never forget. 

The most inspired part of it all was what President Waddoups emailed me the week before. He told me that we would never reach our goals if we relied on our own strength/wisdom, but only on the Lords. 45 people was seriosuly our best effort, and then the Lord made up for the rest Sunday evening. It helped me realize how inspired my leaders our and how involved the Lord is in our work when we give him everything. Have a good week.

Anziano Smith